Oktober knows no borders

October 16, 2008 - 12:17 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Business, coexistence, Food, History and Culture 

Taybeh's OktoberfestModeled after Bavaria, Germany’s famous brew festival of the same name, which draws millions of participants each fall, the Taybeh Brewery held its own two-day version of Oktoberfest earlier this week. This is the fourth incarnation of the Palestinian village’s festival, sponsored by the industry named after it (the brewery’s founding Khoury family currently, er, occupies city hall over there).

The Taybeh Brewery, which offers Golden, Light, Amber and Dark beers, has a decidedly coexistence-themed flavor: It was founded thanks to peace momentum following the 1993 Oslo accords, it is marketed and bottled internationally, and a portion of the Oktoberfest profits is donated every year to peace-loving Palestinians and Israelis.

Although Taybeh is mostly a Christian village, the brewery premiered a non-alcoholic version at the festival, which should boost sales amongst the Palestinian nationalist crowd, traditionally forbidden to drink fermented liquids by the tenets of Islam. The festival also featured folk arts, musical and dance performances, as well as a tag rugby match between the Ramallah Blue Snakes and Beit Jala Lions.

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Drink Beer. And Dance.

August 26, 2008 - 1:32 PM by · 8 Comments
Filed under: Food 

BeerAugust is the perfect month for the Jerusalem Beer Festival. It’s absurdly hot (in the high nineties this week) and I cannot think of a better way to spend a hot sticky evening then drinking ice cold beer with thousands of Jerusalemite revelers. The Jerusalem Beer Festival will this year host premium producers, boutique producers and homemade beers in uncommon tastes of honey, coffee, herbs, and more. The festival caters to the beer connoisseur and the average Joe alike, as visitors will have the opportunity to taste the world’s traditional beers – though it seems like local American-style microbrew Dancing Camel – who make arguably the most interesting beer in Israel – is sadly not participating this year.

The festival is not exactly a fraternity romp but things can get a bit rowdy. Heat, alcohol and pulsating beats can be a scary combination. But the kids keep it in check and the beer festival is a wonderful way to spend a Jerusalem summer night. The festival starts tomorrow. I’m basically going to be jumping off the plane, unpacking a bit, help get the kid settled and off to Jerusalem for an evening of non-debauchery. I don’t really drink these days. I actually had a battle with a bottle of sake last week and lost.

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